


Checkmate

by alienweirdo



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Bullying, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-19 06:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3600177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienweirdo/pseuds/alienweirdo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU set long before the BAU: A friendship evolves between teenagers Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid when an unlikely alliance between the two classmates reveals Spencer’s hidden genius and threatens to turn their suburban high school upside down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alliance

Spencer Reid’s vision swirled as adrenaline coursed through his body. He was shaking, trying to stop trembling as hard as he could, but he was still shaking like a leaf. The bullies had him cornered behind the school. Spencer had tried to escape them by sneaking out the back door, but they had split up and surrounded the school. Checkmate. They were the kings and queens and Spencer was a puny pawn; cornered, he had no moves left. How would he explain away the bruises to his mom this time?

Spencer felt a knot in his stomach grow and twist when he saw that some of his classmates had brought baseball bats. Checkmate… several times over. A tall boy with long dark hair lifted his bat over his shoulder. “So,” he said, addressing the rest of the bullies, “How many swings until we crack open his head? Who’s got their bets in?”

“It’ll only take three, I’d guess,” said a redheaded girl as she picked at the wood of her baseball bat.

“Two! Two swings! I bet fifty bucks on it if I get a shot at him,” shouted another kid. Then the group closed in, shouting their bets in a cacophony of adrenaline. Some merely laughed confidently. Spencer was feeling anything but confident. This was it, he thought. They’d kill him this time, and maybe it was better that way, Spencer thought. The daily abuse would finally come to an end… but so would he.

Spencer was beginning to see black spots in his vision when the first blow struck him. He tried to roll with the pain. Hopefully it’d be over soon. Another blow caught him in the side. Pain pierced his abdomen and he fell. More bats swung and they seemed to keep coming in a rapid succession until one struck the side of his head and Spencer’s vision went black.

Derek Morgan was helping his math teacher clean up after a class project when he walked by the window. There was a small crowd out there. Briefly, he wondered what was going on, but the thought soon passed from his mind as he moved on to other tasks. A half hour later, Derek passed by the window again, and this time something caught his eye. There was something laying in the grass. It looked bloody, and Derek thought it was a dead deer at first. But when his eyes adjusted to the distance, Derek realized that the thing in the grass was human…

He raced outside and found a scrawny teenage boy crumpled and bleeding on the ground. Derek couldn’t even recognize who it was, the boy’s face was so bruised, but he raced to get help.

When Spencer awoke in the hospital, it was to a familiar face, but a confusing one nonetheless. He coughed, and Derek Morgan looked up from a magazine to see that Spencer was finally awake. _Derek Morgan?_ Spencer wondered why _Derek_ , of all people, was sitting beside him. Derek was a straight-A student who managed to exceed the perfect grades he received by doing extra credit he didn’t even need. Conversely, Spencer just tried to survive school. He stayed quiet and tried not to attract any attention to himself. He had learned early on that attention at school was no good when you were the bullies’ favorite target.

“Derek…? What…?” Spencer said in confusion. His head felt like it was spinning, and the bizarre sight of Derek Morgan did not help clear his mind.

“Relax, kiddo. The doctors said you have a really bad concussion. You’re gonna have to stay here for a little while.”

“As long as I get to miss school for a few days…” Spencer said.

“One thing though before you pass out again. I need a name: what do we call you?”

Derek Morgan remembered Spencer Reid when he said his name, even if he hadn’t recognized the boy by his swollen face. Derek felt guilty, even if he hadn’t been one of the bullies who beat Spencer. He had realized, after the fact, that the crowd of kids he’d seen behind the school had collected to abuse his classmate. If only he’d thought about it, he thought, he might have been able to stop the beating… but Derek had walked by. He tried to shrug off the guilt. Derek could be there for the boy _now_ , and hopefully that made some kind of difference to Spencer.


	2. Allegiance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek Morgan learns more about the complex mind of Spencer Reid, and what he discovers astonishes him.

Spencer felt like his head was full of fuzz. Groggy from the medications, he opened his eyes to find his mother fretting over him. Derek Morgan was nowhere to be seen.

“Mom…”

“Oh, you’re awake!”

“You don’t have to be here.”

“Don’t have to be here!? Honey, you could’ve been killed! Do you know who did this to you?”

“No… I didn’t see them,” Spencer said, biting his lip. It was a tell that his mother didn’t pick up on. His mother sighed as though she ached.

“If you figure it out we can press charges.”

“I said I don’t remember.” Spencer was beginning to grow angry, but the sight of his classmate in the doorway made him pause. The boy was carrying an assortment of snacks, having just raided the vending machine.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I got them all,” Derek said casually. He exchanged pleasantries with Spencer’s mother before she announced that she needed to go back home and wouldn’t be back until the next day.

Derek took the seat beside Spencer’s bed. “So, pretty boy, what’ll it be?” Spencer looked at the assortment of food on the nightstand, choosing sour cream and onion chips. Derek handed the snack to Spencer, who began eating them hungrily. Spencer suddenly grew somber.

“Why are you here, Derek? Is this some kind of bizarre extra credit scheme?”

“Look, kiddo, when I look at you, I don’t see someone with a lot of ties to the world; I see someone who could use a friend. I’m not here as an academic; I’m here as a friend.” Spencer bit his lip.

“I don’t need your pity,” Spencer said with anger tinting his words. “Look at you. You’re captain of the soccer team. You have a 98.7 average. You have the physique to smash anyone who looks at you the wrong way. I’m a clown compared to you, and clowns don’t have friends.”

“If you’re a clown, pretty boy, it’s one hell of a circus you’ve got going on,” Derek said, gesturing to the medical equipment hooked up to Spencer. He felt his heartbeat skip a beat when Spencer looked him in the eyes with a fierce and determined expression that reminded Derek of a wild animal. “You want to tell me why you ‘don’t remember’ those assholes who did this to you?” Derek challenged.

“Look, I don’t expect you to understand, but there are things my mother is better off not worrying about,” Spencer said.

“Okay, I see. It’s hard to let people in.”

“No… it’s not even that, it’s… well, my mom’s not well. She has… _problems_. And I’d rather she work on _those_ than tracking down a bunch of stupid kids whose parents and teachers will cover for them anyway.”

Derek was starting to see Spencer differently. Honestly, he’d thought that a few nice words might make a difference in the life of someone who’d always been considered a loser and a failure. But something about Spencer was making him take a closer look. Spencer was… fiercely protective, like someone who’d been hurt badly. And Derek was finding that he was drawn to Spencer, even going so far as to want to pull back the mask that was sheltering the terrified boy. Derek sighed. “I got you. Now tell me, what do you like to do to pass the time?”

Spencer laid down on his hospital bed. “I read,” Spencer said, staring up at the ceiling.

“Like fiction?”

“Yeah, I guess. I read everything.”

“What’s your favorite book?” Derek asked, expecting it to be a simple question. Spencer began rattling off a long series of titles, some in French, Latin, and even German. “Damn, pretty boy. I never expected—”

“—No one does,” Spencer said.

Derek came back to the hospital the next day. It wasn’t hard for him to convince the hospital staff to let him visit Spencer. With his charm and intelligence, Derek was always able to get people to do go along with his plans. However, it seemed Spencer was immune to his way with people. It brought out Derek’s competitive spirit; he was determined to make a difference for Spencer, though he hoped his classmate would warm up to him. “I brought you something,” Derek said with a smile.

“Oh?” Spencer seemed distracted. Derek showed Spencer an iPad. He had packed it with all kinds of games that he thought— _hoped_ —might interest Spencer. He flipped through several games, briefly explaining each one, before moving on to the next. Spencer took little interest in the gadget till a simple chess game appeared on the screen. His eyes grew brighter for a moment, but the expression flickered away as quickly as it had come. Still, Derek had noticed, and he was determined to recover whatever glimmer of joy he had spotted.

Sixteen games later, Derek was speechless. Not only had Spencer beat Derek handily in all sixteen games, an joyful glow had filled Spencer’s face. It was clear that Spencer had many secrets that he hadn’t been sharing with anyone.

“Here, let’s try something,” Derek said as he fiddled with the iPad, “Let’s see who can solve this math puzzle the fastest!” Spencer laughed brightly, willing to accept the challenge. After catching a glimpse of the puzzle on Derek’s iPad, Spencer began to recite a series of numbers. Derek simply stared at his classmate. Spencer had memorized the puzzle with a mere glance and had solved it in an instant. Derek was floored. Never had he met someone like Spencer—someone he’d written off long ago who was proving that he could still astound Derek once he took a closer look. Derek was quickly learning that Spencer Reid was a far more complex individual than he had anticipated. And before he could process his feelings, Derek found that he was falling for the genius.


	3. Proximity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid learn more about each other on Spencer's last day at the hospital.

Spencer shuddered in his sleep, his dreams resounding with the hard  _thwack_ noise of baseball bats. He heard the bullies around him, closing in, and he felt the blood running down his neck and sides. Spencer awoke suddenly, crying out. In an instant, Derek Morgan woke up from sleeping in the chair beside Spencer's bed and instinctively grabbed Spencer's hand. At that moment, Spencer's intense gaze met Derek's frightened eyes. It was the first time Spencer had seen Derek genuinely afraid. Everything about Derek was a mask, Spencer thought. The good grades, the stellar athletic performance, the extra credit--it was all a way of defending himself from critical eyes through carefully honed perfectionism. But now Spencer thought he could _see_ Derek--the _real_ Derek. A boy just as frightened as Spencer.

Before either of them could think, Spencer pulled Derek close and hugged him tight. Derek wrapped his arms around Spencer and hugged him back. Neither of them wished for the moment to be over. It was a sense of proximity that mirrored the way they had each grown to understand and admire the other.

"Don't leave me," was all Spencer said. It was a plea to prevent the loss of Spencer's new friend--his only friend.

To say they were from different circles was an understatement. Derek sat atop the social pyramid, an aloof king of popularity and charm. Meanwhile, Spencer was outcast from even the high school weirdos at the very bottom of the hierarchy.

"Don't leave me," Spencer said. And Derek listened, frightened by the way his heart had broken open and spilled out for Spencer. The perfect boy was losing control over his feelings for Spencer. Never had he met anyone who had disarmed him as quickly and effortlessly as Spencer had. Somehow the young genius had taken hold of him, from the moment he lay crumpled behind the high school to the moment he had held Derek close. It was something he had never experienced before.

When Spencer's mom arrived to take him home, Derek felt embarrassed. He didn't know how to rationalize the way he was feeling. Spencer was out of the woods, but what would happen _now?_ Could a social reject and a social butterfly be friends?  

"Don't leave me," Spencer had said.

"Don't leave me." It was a plea from a friendless person to the only person who had risked a second glance at him.

Derek watched Spencer go, after they had traded numbers. Derek looked down at the crumbled piece of paper at Spencer's chicken scratch. He remembered what the boy said. "Don't leave me."   

And Derek was afraid.


	4. Discord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer and Derek return to school after Spencer's hospitalization.

Spencer held his breath and counted to three before pushing open the door of his Las Vegas high school. He kept his eyes on the ground, feigning interest in the details of the speckled floor in order to avoid meeting anyone's eyes. Spencer looked as though the floor posed a deep philosophical question he was trying to solve, Derek thought. Derek turned back to his locker and glanced in the mirror attached to its door. He saw himself, a boy with everything to lose if he would risk it for someone else... Derek sighed, and shut the locker door.

Spencer reflected on the feeling of Derek Morgan's embrace. He wished he could recapture that warmth... It was almost like Derek _cared_. It was such a perfect moment: too fleeting to last. Now that they were both back at school, Derek's bizarre A+ special buddy stunt was over. The two had gone back to their normal lives: Derek at the top of the pyramid and Spencer a pariah. The phone number... was it just an apology? A way of saying goodbye? Spencer knew he wouldn't be able to work up the courage to contact Derek. He was too afraid the phone number would be fake. They had had a moment--that was all. Spencer shook his head, trying to rid himself of thoughts of Derek.

During math class, daydreams of Derek Morgan floated back into Spencer's mind. He tried to ignore them, but he longed for the other boy's arms around him, holding him close... At that moment, the teacher called on him, spinning him out of his revelry. His classmates chuckled as Spencer stuttered, trying to answer a question he hadn't heard.

In art class, Derek's teacher asked the students to draw a still life. Derek, who was proficient at drawing but lacked a creative spark, tried to focus on shading an apple so that it looked realistic. Yet, beneath it all, he was beginning to learn something that couldn't be taught: empathy. In every class, he saw how the social pyramid worked: there were your kings and queens, there were your bishops, rooks, and knights--and then there were your pawns. They were weird, insecure, and withdrawn, having turned inward to escape their less-than-friendly surroundings. Derek knew he was at the top of the pyramid, but he had never seen things so clearly before. He was not a bully, at least not in the usual sense, but there was no escaping the fact that being high school royalty crushed the pawns at the bottom of the totem pole.

Suddenly the apple looked just like what it really was: an illusion.

 

 


	5. Illusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek Morgan invites Spencer Reid to babysit with him.

When Spencer felt his cell phone buzz it was the number he least expected that flashed on his screen.

"...D-Derek?" Spencer stuttered into the receiver.

"Kiddo, I've got a job for you... That is, if you're interested..."

It was such a mental jump for Spencer that he felt like he was in a dream as he rode his bike to the address Derek had provided. Derek Morgan wanted Spencer to help _babysit?_ First of all, Spencer had never been any good with kids. But through his stuttered explanation that 99.9% of kids and animals hated him on sight, Derek still assured him that it would be _fine_. There was no arguing with Derek Morgan. That was one thing that Spencer was learning. The boy had a way with people that Spencer completely and utterly lacked. How exactly Derek was going to get a couple of kids to not throw things at Spencer was a challenge that he guessed would be figured out later. Spencer said he'd come. How could he not when his heart was _racing_ like that?

When Spencer Reid walked up to the door of the house--a split level suburban ranch--he wasn't sure whether to knock or ring the doorbell. Instead he did neither, calling Derek Morgan to let him know he was outside. Derek opened the door with a flourish and let Spencer in the house. A bundle of nerves, Spencer was reciting statistics about increasingly alarming subjects, everything from the probability of a break in in the neighborhood to the number of children who drown in backyard pools just like the one out back. He continued quoting until Derek grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes. Everything in Spencer's head fell away then and he trailed off mid-sentence. It was Derek's "superpower" again, his way of taking control of situations and the people in them.

"You alright, kiddo?"

"Um, yeah. Uh, yes," Spencer said, "It's just, uh, well, I don't really know what I'm doing here."

"Well, Spencer, you're going to watch 'Horton Hears A Who' with Caleb and Ava. Can you handle that?" Derek sounded rougher than he intended and he felt bad when he saw Spencer flinch at his words. Immediately Spencer's eyes shot to the floor and remained there, as though he had found something truly intriguing about the linoleum. It was Spencer's perpetually wounded look that dug at Derek's heart.

Derek tried to soften his tone, placing a hand on Spencer's shoulder and leading him to the TV room where Caleb and Ava were sitting around a big bowl of popcorn.

"Hi Derek! Hi Derek's friend!" the twins said.

"Uh, it's Spencer," the genius corrected, but the children paid no mind. They had already moved onto the next thing: watching 'Horton Hears A Who'.

When the movie was over, it was time for the children to go to bed. Derek put a hand on Spencer's shoulder as he stood up from the couch, whispering, "I'll handle the bedtime routine, Spence." The children followed Derek and Spencer sat alone. Unconsciously, Spencer began tapping his shoe on the floor with a nervous fervor. It was a tic he had picked up, one which betrayed his typical unease.

"You okay, man?" Derek surprised Spencer accidentally, and the genius's eyes shot up to Derek's with a look of desperation. "Whoa," Derek said as he sat down next to Spencer, "Look, nothing is going wrong, Spence. You're safe. It's all okay." Spencer stopped making eye contact and seemed to retreat into his own mind, all the while biting his bottom lip nervously. "Spencer, look at me," Derek said, gently turning Spencer's face toward his own. "It's okay. You're safe."

"I just, uh, I just, I've never, you know, never really had a friend before?"

"It's okay, Spencer, I promise. We're friends, right? Like you said. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. All those kids at school, right? None of them are here. It's just you and me." Derek thought he could sense the other boy begin to relax. But it was only then that Spencer's posture collapsed and he broke down and began to cry silent tears, like someone who had long hidden their pain in plain sight.

Without thinking about what he was doing, Derek wrapped an arm around Spencer and pulled him close. If he couldn't keep away the bullies and fight off Spencer's demons, then what kind of _friend_ was he? It was then that Derek realized his true allegiance. All the kings and queens and rooks and knights and bishops could go fuck themselves. The whole social order could go fuck itself. Because, here, right here--this was the one worth fighting for. What good was a pecking order when it destroyed lives?  

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Look at me; I'm a mess," Spencer said, leaning against Derek. Derek held Spencer closer, and Spence felt for the first time like someone cherished him.

"Spencer," Derek began, "Look at me," Spencer turned his eyes toward Derek. "I have to tell you something--"

"I know."

Derek was caught off guard. "You... know?"

"Yeah... I know you probably don't want to see me after this and I understand. I-I guess, you know, we can't really be friends. We're not cut from the same cloth..."

"Spencer, that's not what I was going to say."

"No?" Spencer began, bitterly, "You've got your real friends to worry about, not some loser getting in the way. I get it; I really do, just--"

Derek caught Spencer off guard with a sudden kiss to the mouth. Then the two sat in silence for a moment looking at one another with astonishment.

" _That's_ what I was trying to tell you, Spencer."


	6. Disturbance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teenagers Spencer Reid and Derek Morgan are growing closer, but their unlikely alliance is not well received by their peers.
> 
> [tw homophobia, homophobic bullying, homophobic slurs]

School was pretty much the same as prison, Spencer Reid thought. Only this prison was stocked with a number of interesting characters, none of whom wanted to hear you babble about species of tobacco plants or the logic of Turing tests. No, this sort of prison was full of people who could only be accurately described as hazards to the life and wellbeing of one Spencer Reid.

School had never treated Spencer kindly. And by the time it became a regular thing for the other kids to surround Spencer on the playground and taunt him, he had internalized that he could not expect any respect from his peers. This thing with Derek Morgan seemed poised to overthrow those older, well-ingrained ideas--but Spencer couldn't help but consider that maybe Derek was playing some elaborate joke on him for the sake of the other popular kids. He hoped not. But, then again, his experience did lead to understanding something like kindness as a possible motivation. Spencer was scared. And by the time he got to school, the hot-and-cold oscillations of his mind were paranoid and distrusting of Derek Morgan's intentions.

The two had decided to meet up at lunch.     

"So you showed up," Derek said, as Spencer set his lunch tray down on the table. The remark was followed by another one of Derek's charming smiles. Those smiles were infinitely disarming, Spencer thought.

The cafeteria had long been a dangerous place for him. Spencer usually spent lunchtime hiding in the bathroom. How different it was to be sitting next to one of the most popular kids in school. He began to relax, just as the other kids began to notice Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid at the same table. A few pointed, alerting their peers to the odd sight. Some began to laugh. Then a few students stood up and began approaching the table.

"Derek," said one girl, "Are you a _charity_  for _losers_ or something?"

"Morgan, even for you this looks pretty bad," said an athletic boy. More students had taken notice of the disturbance in the cafeteria.

"Alright, fags," said a tall boy with blonde hair. "Let's see if Derek Morgan's charity work goes sour when this faggoty loser does..." The blonde boy overturned a carton of milk right on Spencer's head. Spencer jumped back to escape the attack, but the tall boy merely tossed the rest of the milk carton at him, spilling the liquid all over Spencer's shirt.

As Derek stood up to help Spencer, two of the popular girls dumbed their lunch trays onto his shirt and pants. The bullies began to laugh. A few people from neighboring tables began to throw food at Derek and Spencer. Derek looked shocked. He glanced around at the hostile cafeteria. 

"Are you a _faggot_ or _not_ , Morgan?"

"If you're not _completely gay_ , you need to ditch this _loser_ , Derek..."

"Always knew you were a _homo_."

"Why hang around that _stupid_ twink?"

Derek had already made up his mind. He'd decided long before any of this; he'd seen the true nature of these people. Without any more hesitation, Derek stood up and walked over to where Spencer was sitting. Derek took him by the hand, leading him away from the bullies, who continued to throw taunts and slurs into the air.

"I never thought it'd get that bad," Derek said to Spencer while they hid in the bathroom, trying to clean the food off of themselves. "And I'm sorry, Spencer,"

"It's always bad," Spencer said simply. He couldn't think what else to say.

Derek tried to clean the milk and food off of Spencer with paper towels. He gave Derek his bitter half-smile.

They cleaned up the mess as best they could, then snuck out the back door of the school. In the wooded area behind the high school, Derek took Spencer's hand again and pulled him close. They hugged, and Spencer began to cry quietly. In Derek's arms, he began to trust that at least one person in the world believed he was worth something--even if the rest of the world didn't think so.


End file.
